Two years ago, I had no money to even buy yarn, so I was not interested at all. One year ago, I was working at during the yarn crawl in a yarn store, which precluded me from participating. This year I was able to secure a seat in a car with some friends that intended to visit some stores I had never been too. Woohoo!

It was so nice to see some old friends again and hang out with them, despite a cramped seating arrangement, which I did not think was going to be a problem, but certainly affected me by the time I got home in the evening. Next year, I will either have my own car or make sure I am not crowded into a vehicle for an all-day shopping spree. I am very grateful that the driver accommodated my temperature needs; I even got a little chilly.

Our first stop was The Yarn Garden in Whittier. My godmother lives in La Mirada and the next time I go out to visit with her, I will have to remember to stop by the store should I need anything. The staff (Diana, Robert and Corina) were very friendly. My goal during this spree was to try and match a MadelineTosh I had purchased during my employment at The Knitting Tree, L A, for which I had lost the yarn label. Fortunately, they had much to choose from; unfortunately, I was not able to match the color. It’s good to know another source for MadelineTosh, having been banned from The Knitting Tree, L A. While there, I entered a contest and hope I am a “wiener.”

Continuing south on the 605, our next stop was Stitches In Time in Bellflower. As we were parking, I noticed a the mural on the side of a building, which I liked. Upon entering the store, I flash-backed to Yarns Unlimited, based on the yarn selections. Fans were twirling and as long as one was in the direct tunnel of air they were blowing, I began to get a little sticky. When Kathleen wanted to visit the bakery next door, I accompanied her, where I used the bathroom and discovered the whimsical mural on the wall. When I left the bakery, I ambled over to the mural on the side of the building to photograph it before returning to Stitches In Time.

So far I had been able to restrain myself from purchasing anything, but I really hadn’t seen anything that really called out to me either. Then we went to Alamitos Bay Yarn Company. I was surprised that they did not sell MadelineTosh, and my attention was immediately drawn to their color selection of Brown Sheep Company Lamb’s Pride, figuring this would be an ideal source for mom’s cowl she has asked me to make, emulating the color scheme of a serape she owns. Then my attention was drawn to the Baah yarns display, where I encountered multicolor yarn. My next thought was that maybe I could save money if I made mom’s cowl from this yarn. I took the picture for mom’s consideration, but think the color changes are too frequent for my use. I LOVE the colors!

The YarnOver Truck happened to be there, and I went out to “show” Kathleen the wonderful Anzula Meridian I had previously seen when I went to the truck with Carla at the brewing company. That’s when I broke down and finally made my first purchase. I just love the color and in the back of my mind, I have the perfect project for the yarn, thought I have not even used the first yarn I purchased from them last year. Aiyaa!

Our last stop – thank God, because I was getting quite uncomfortable in the car – was the new store, Maddie Made It. Love the store, the prices are very reasonable and the yarn selection reminded me of The Knitting Tree, L A. Having spotted the Interlacements Rick Rack, which I love, I hemmed and hawed until Jacqui pointed out the Queensland Uluru, which I thought would be very pretty double-stranded with the Interlacements.

I spent two-thirds of the budget I had allotted for yarn purchases, so I feel pretty good about that. Do I need more yarn? Of course not, but he with the most yarn wins in the end. Now I just need to make time for all the projects. Fortunately, I got to speaking with Denise, who participates as a vendor at shows and I might have a viable outlet to sell my creations at a decent price, minus commission. We will talk further and hopefully something will come of it.